Hello,
I've been with Sprint forever and a day, it a great company, the service department is very helpful. Right now, I own a HTC Evo 4g, which is a good phone except for the battery life. I wanted an iPhone since it came out in 2007 but didn't want to go to AT&T to get one. Now iPhone finally came to Sprint & I ordered the iPhone 4s for myself.(upgrading). My question is about phone insurance. Will Sprint insurance take care of my iPhone or will I have to add Apple Care insurance as well? I know all this is new since iPhone came home to roost, I just want to know what I'm up against. I'm no stranger to the iPhone and I will take good care of it. I'm a Mac user as well. Thank you for your time.

My impression is that it will happen much like how AT&T does AT&T Navigator. Basically, there will be an app in the App Store (either Sprint Navigation or, more likely, Telenav) which you will be able to download for free. It will then check your phone to see if you are subscribed to navigation from your carrier (which all Sprint data customers are by default) and then it will work based on that subscription status.

Hello,
I've been with Sprint forever and a day, it a great company, the service department is very helpful. Right now, I own a HTC Evo 4g, which is a good phone except for the battery life. I wanted an iPhone since it came out in 2007 but didn't want to go to AT&T to get one. Now iPhone finally came to Sprint & I ordered the iPhone 4s for myself.(upgrading). My question is about phone insurance. Will Sprint insurance take care of my iPhone or will I have to add Apple Care insurance as well? I know all this is new since iPhone came home to roost, I just want to know what I'm up against. I'm no stranger to the iPhone and I will take good care of it. I'm a Mac user as well. Thank you for your time.

iStarrwoman19

We're still waiting on the final word for this ourselves. The answer we are being given now is that your Total Equipment Protection will not apply to the iPhone for now. You will have to rely on either AppleCare, AppleCare+, or a third party solution for right now. As far as service goes, we're being told tentatively to refer any troubles beyond basic troubleshooting and email setup to Apple themselves which is the standard carrier policy for iPhone. This could change either by launch day or in the future. My suggestion would be to wait until it's actually active on your account and see if they allow the TEP to remain attached. This is probably the #1 question I'm being asked right now but we haven't been given a 100% clear answer. I will report back once I'm sure of the exact answer.

TEP will not be an option for right now on the iPhone. All Service and Repair issues will be referred to an Apple Store or Apple Customer Service. We will keep a limited supply of stock on hand for 30 day exchanges and DOA (Dead On Arrival) phones but only if the customer has AppleCare. TEP may become an option later on, but no details are being given because they have not been finalized. My suggestion then is to go ahead and purchase AppleCare+ right now if you are concerned about it.

As for me, I can take apart and fix my own phones and I know where to get OEM replacement parts so I'll likely not purchase AppleCare+. But if that's not an option for you, go ahead and get it NOW.

We're still waiting on the final word for this ourselves. The answer we are being given now is that your Total Equipment Protection will not apply to the iPhone for now. You will have to rely on either AppleCare, AppleCare+, or a third party solution for right now. As far as service goes, we're being told tentatively to refer any troubles beyond basic troubleshooting and email setup to Apple themselves which is the standard carrier policy for iPhone. This could change either by launch day or in the future. My suggestion would be to wait until it's actually active on your account and see if they allow the TEP to remain attached. This is probably the #1 question I'm being asked right now but we haven't been given a 100% clear answer. I will report back once I'm sure of the exact answer.

During my pre-order on October 7th, it specifically told me that TEP would become inactive on either line I chose to order the iPhone on. It told me that I would need to select Applecare insurance.

Would you be able to answer any questions having to due with sprint network, such as specifics regarding sprint network vision implementation and spectrum.

As I'm also a recently graduated Electrical Engineer as well, I can give you some of my own well-informed insights, but some details and strategies are not handed down directly through the retail channels. Especially when it comes to network strategies. But I'd be more than happy to answer anything you'd like to ask with the best information I have available to me.

Sales figures are rarely communicated to retail channels. In addition, all pre-orders were done online only so I really didn't get an accurate snapshot of what demand was like. Given that AT&T sold 200,000 I would put our numbers right at 100-125 thousand. Well informed guess.

I do know that 90% of our phone calls have been iPhone related. We've got several dozen appointments scheduled for next week for Ready Now. (If you're new to Sprint, Ready Now is a service we offer exclusively through our retail stores where we spend time setting up your phone and services personally. It's very similar to Apple's One on One service, except that it's completely free whenever you want) Demand is big. I doubt you'll ever hear the actual numbers as Sprint is generally hush hush about sales numbers (based on previous halo launches like the Instinct, Pre, and Evo 4G)

Thanks for that. In another thread someone is claiming only 32,000 pre-orders and that he heard it from a salesman. That did not sound credible to me.

Honestly, he could be correct. It does sound very low ball to me. However like I said, sales numbers (as well as a lot of other things people tend to claim they heard from reps) are rarely officially communicated through the retail channel. So when a friend or someone on the internet claims to have heard something from a rep (of any carrier) they are either BS'ing or the rep was BS'ing. It's amazing how many retail putz's out there will give out wrong information based on what they've heard from Engadget or BGR.

In 99% of all cases, it can't be done. There are only two ways it can happen.

I have seen in extremely rare instances where they will allow a 6th line on a family plan. To do this you have to have been a customer for an extremely long period of time with no history of unpaid disconnects. If you haven't been a customer for more than 8 years, don't even bother trying. Even then, you'll be on the phone for hours trying to find someone to do this (generally the only department that can do that is retention). And for all I know they may have shut off this loophole. Also, it generally means that you'll never be able to have your account serviced in a Best Buy, Radio Shack, or other authorized retailer. It's Sprint corporate or nothing.

The other route would be to convert your account to a business account. There are a lot of different ways this can be done so I would recommend just going going into a store and going over it with them in person. You can set it up under a business Tax ID, your Social Security Number, or a hybrid of both. You might even qualify for some discounts. Then you would have access to the business plans which apply to plans of 6 or more lines. And to be realistic, the conversion is a pain in the ***. If you're a new customer and they can work it out to be a business account, then this is the best option.

What's the word? iPhone4s SIM locked or unlocked for international use?

Thanks in advance,

numb3rmonkey

As far as I know right now, we're looking at Sprint only international roaming. This is an unusual move for Sprint. On ore recent world phone (Blackberry 9650 and 9630) were completely SIM unlocked. I've actually placed a call on a Sprint 9650 using an ATT SIM card. My instinct tells me that unlock codes will be availabe to customers but it may take a while. Right now I would go into it with the expectation that you will be stuck using Sprints international SIM.

I have another question. How hard is it to get a TOL on a SERO plan? I've read on other forums about some people being unsuccessful, or that the Sprint reps won't do it unless you are an existing SERO customer or have an EPRP plan.

I have another question. How hard is it to get a TOL on a SERO plan? I've read on other forums about some people being unsuccessful, or that the Sprint reps won't do it unless you are an existing SERO customer or have an EPRP plan.

Never tried it personally, but I asked around the store. Most reps were convinced that it couldn't actually be done. Some of the more experienced reps said that it used to only be done through customer care, but that now since retail outlets are servicing SERO's customer care refuses to do almost anything with them anymore. The docs that I found on SERO do not mention a TOL so I don't think it's necessarily disallowed, but probably HIGHLY discouraged as SERO lines do not make Sprint anything. If it can be done, you're going to have to find an experienced rep who REALLY likes you.

My impression is that it will happen much like how AT&T does AT&T Navigator. Basically, there will be an app in the App Store (either Sprint Navigation or, more likely, Telenav) which you will be able to download for free. It will then check your phone to see if you are subscribed to navigation from your carrier (which all Sprint data customers are by default) and then it will work based on that subscription status.

What about the other Sprint Exclusive Apps like Sprint TV, NASCAR, and Sprint Football Live? I hope there are plans for Sprint iPhone customers for these as well as the Sprint Navigation.